RESEARCH in ORGANIZATIONS

1 RESEARCH in ORGANIZATIONSA Publication in the Berrett-Koehler Organizational Performance SeriesRichard A. Swanson & Barbara L. Swanson,Series EditorsSponsored by the Academy of Human Resource DevelopmentRESEARCH in ORGANIZATIONSF oundations and Methods of InquiryRichard A. SwansonElwood F. Holton IIIE ditorsSResearch in OrganizationsCopyright 2005 by Richard A. Swanson and Elwood IIIAll rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced, distributed, or transmittedin any form or by any means, including photocopying, recording, or other electronic or mechan-ical methods, without the prior written permission of the publisher, except in the case of briefquotations embodied in critical reviews and certain other noncommercial uses permitted bycopyright law.

2 For permission requests, write to the publisher, addressed Attention:Permissions Coordinator, at the address Publishers, Montgomery Street, Suite 650 San Francisco, California 94104-2916 Tel: (415) 288-0260, Fax: (415) information for print editionsQuantity discounts are available on quantity purchases by corporations, associa-tions, and others. For details, contact the Special Sales Department at the Berrett-Koehleraddress publications are available through most bookstores. They canalso be ordered directly from Berrett-Koehler: Tel: (800) 929-2929; Fax: (802) 864-7626; for college textbook/course adoption contact Berrett-Koehler: Tel: (800)929-2929; Fax: (802) by trade bookstores and contact Ingram Publisher Services,Tel: (800) 509-4887; Fax: (800) 838-1149; E-mail: or visit for details about and the BK logo are registered trademarks of Berrett-Koehler Publishers, EditionHardcover print edition ISBN 978-1-57675-314-9 PDF e-book ISBN 978-1-60509-333-82009-1 Production management: Michael Bass AssociatesCover design: Karen MarquardtContentsForewordixAdvancing RESEARCH in ORGANIZATIONS through LearningCommunitiesANDREWH.

3 VAN DEVEN,University of MinnesotaPrefacexiiiList of FiguresxvList of TablesxviiPART ONER esearch in Organizations11 The Challenge of RESEARCH in ORGANIZATIONS 3 RICHARDA. SWANSON,University of Minnesota2 The Process of Framing RESEARCH in ORGANIZATIONS 11 RICHARDA. SWANSON,University of MinnesotaPART TWOQ uantitative RESEARCH Methods273 The Basics of Quantitative RESEARCH 29 ELWO O DF. HOLTONIIIANDMICHAELF. BURNETT,Louisiana State University4 Sampling Strategies and Power Analysis 45 DAVIDL. PASSMORE ANDROSEM. BAKER,The Pennsylvania State University5 Effects Sizes versus Statistical Significance 57 BRUCETHOMPSON,Texas A&M UniversityandBaylor College of Medicine(Houston)v6 Experimental and Quasi-experimental Designs 75 DARLENERUSS-EFT,Oregon State University, and AMYL.

4 HOOVER,Central Washington University7 Survey RESEARCH in ORGANIZATIONS 97 KENNETHR. BARTLETT,University of Minnesota8 Multivariate RESEARCH Methods 115 REIDA. BATES,Louisiana State University9 Structural Equation Modeling: An Introduction to Basic Techniques and Advanced Issues 143 JENIL. BARNETTEand LARRYJ. WILLIAMS,Virginia Commonwealth University10 Scale Development Principles and Practices 161 TIMOTHYR. HINKIN,Cornell University11 Factor Analysis Methods 181 BAIYINYANG,University of Minnesota12 Meta-Analysis Methods 201 BAIYINYANG,University of MinnesotaPART THREEQ ualitative RESEARCH Methods21913 Content, Lived Experience, and Qualitative RESEARCH 221 YVONNAS. LINCOLN,Texas A&M University14 Analyzing Qualitative Data 233 WENDYE. A.

5 RUONA,University of Georgia15 Grounded Theory RESEARCH Methods 265 CAROLD. HANSEN,Georgia State University16 Ethnographic RESEARCH Methods 281 PAMELACRESPIN,CHRISTINEMILLER, and ALLENW. BATTEAU,Wayne State University17 Historical RESEARCH Methods 295 MICHAELROWLINSON,Queen Mary, University of LondonviContentsPART FOURM ixed Methods Research31318 Mixed Methods RESEARCH : Developments, Debates, and Dilemmas 315 JOHNW. CRESWELL,University of Nebraska Lincoln, and J. DAVIDCRESWELL,University of California Los Angeles19 Case Study RESEARCH Methods 327 ANDREAD. ELLINGER,University of Illinois;KARENE. WATKINS,University of Georgia;and VICTORIAJ. MARSICK,Columbia University20 Theory Development RESEARCH Methods 351 RICHARDJ. TORRACO,University of Nebraska21 Action RESEARCH Methods 375 LYLEYORKS,Columbia UniversityPART FIVER esearch Resources39922 Using Journals and Databases in RESEARCH 401 THOMASJ.

6 CHERMACKand DAVIDL. PASSMORE,The Pennsylvania State University23 Managing an Effective and Ethical RESEARCH Project 419 MILEST. BRYANT,University of NebraskaName Index437 Subject Index443 About the Authors453 ContentsviiThis page intentionally left blank ForewordAdvancing RESEARCH in Organizationsthrough Learning Communities Andrew H. Van de Ven, University of MinnesotaThe primary purpose of this book is to advance RESEARCH in ORGANIZATIONS . As dis-cussed throughout its chapters, RESEARCH in ORGANIZATIONS presents a milieu ofchallenges and opportunities that are unique. The challenge that this book con-fronts is to introduce organizational scholars to the vast landscape of methods ofinquiry and RESEARCH that can be utilized to advance RESEARCH in overarching themes of this book are (1) that conducting RESEARCH in organi-zational contexts demands that traditional RESEARCH methods be adapted and ad-justed to fit organizational realities, and (2) that researchers toolkits mustinclude the entire array of quantitative and qualitative methods.

7 In doing so, Isuggest that it lays the foundation for inquiry that can build what I (Van de Ven,2002) and Herbert Simon (1976) have advocated as learning communities to sig-nificantly advance organizational RESEARCH and UNIQUE CHALLENGE OF ORGANIZATIONAL RESEARCHS cholarshipis the creation and dissemination of knowledge about RESEARCH , teach-ing, and practice. In his 1996 Academy of Management Presidential Address, RickMowday (1997) called for us to reaffirm our scholarly values by adopting ErnestBoyer s (1997) engaged view of scholarship as the scholarship of discovery,teaching, practice, and integration. Just as the development and testing of new re-search knowledge are central to informing our teaching and practice, so also thediscovery of new questions and ideas from teaching and practice should nourishand guide our is vain to think that researchers have a monopoly on knowledge and consultants discover anomalies and insights from their prac-tices, as teachers do with their students and scientists do with their RESEARCH .

8 Theknowledge that researchers, teachers, consultants, and practitioners learn bythemselves is different and partial. If it could be coproduced and combined insome novel ways, the results could produce a dazzling synthesis that might pro-foundly advance theory, teaching, and , Bartunek, and Dalt (2001), along with many others, claim that aca-demic RESEARCH has become less useful for solving the practical problems in or-ganizations. The gulf between science and practice in ORGANIZATIONS is is growing criticism that findings from academic and consulting studiesare not useful for practitioners and do not get implemented (Beer, 2001). Thereis also growing debate between advocates of normal science and action sciencemethods (Beer & Nohria, 2000). In short, academic researchers are being criti-cized for not adequately putting their organizational knowledge into this criticism goes both ways.

9 Managers and consultants are not doingenough to put their practice into theory. As a result, ORGANIZATIONS are not learn-ing fast enough to keep up with the changing do not believe this gulf is due to a lack of interest or commitment. On the contrary, in our interactions with students and managers, we struggle eachday with the challenges of developing and applying management principles inpractice. This is no longer a luxury of time it is a necessity. In this knowledge-intensive economy, it is incumbent on managers, consultants, and academics todevelop valid LEARNING COMMUNITIES FOR RESEARCH AND PRACTICEThe gap between RESEARCH and practice of organizational knowledge is a complexand controversial subject. As he did on so many topics, Herbert Simon (1976)provided a useful way to frame this problem.

10 He proposed that a basic challengefor scholars in professional schools is to contribute to both organizational scienceand practice not either/or. The information and skills relevant to accomplish-ing this came from the social system of practitioners and the social system of sci-entists in the relevant disciplines. These social systems have elaborate institutionsand procedures for storing, transmitting, developing, and applying represents a different community of practice, and the main way to under-stand each community is to participate in (1976) points out that a social system, if left to itself, gravitates towardan equilibrium position of maximum entropy. One segment gets absorbed in theapplied culture of managers and ORGANIZATIONS . It is dependent on the world ofpractice as its sole source of knowledge inputs.